Sunday, August 3, 2008

An Honor Killing Or A Murder? Looks the Same to Me.

To me Honor Killings and Murders are one and the same thing, and there is no honor in committing murder. Of the major religions in the world, I believe there are two that allow (or at least practice) Honor Killings: Islam and Hinduism. I could be wrong, there may only be one, but I seem to recall Hindu women being killed for honor under religious law or belief.

Recently a so called Honor Killing went awry - well really they have all gone awry since they are all murders, but bear with me, I am making a point. Let's just for the sake of this piece say a particular Honor Killing went bad. You see, a 23 year old young lady in the country of Jordan left her home. It was suspected, by her brother, that she had gone away with of all things - a man! Upon her return to her home, her brother killed her to maintain the honor of his family. Now that could be seen as all well and good by Islamists; after all it is their religion that preaches such is a good thing - no not women going away with men, but killing unmarried women who consort with men. After all it is for the family's honor.

The thing is though that in this case an autopsy revealed the woman was a virgin. Sort of makes me wonder, had she really been away with a man for 4 months? Maybe she was just away from home for 4 months, you know, as in on her own. Then again, even if she was with a man, maybe it was for an honorable purpose, it surely was not for the purpose of having vaginal sex. So what of this killing be an Honor Killing as opposed to sheer murder? Well, since this took place in or near Amman, Jordan, I am wiling to bet that little happens to the brother (who by the way confessed to this seeming atrocity) with regard to criminal punishment. Of course, I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure it is the penal code in Jordan that upholds such killings, and the almighty - the all holy Q'ran that prompts men to kill women in the name of honor when the women who are unmarried are with men.

I can just imagine the masses of Jordan and the Muslim world, for the most part, rejoicing in how the brother rid the world of another harlot who was unworthy of life because he SUSPECTED she had done something dishonorable. Barbarians is too nice a term to describe those who hold these beliefs as far as I see them.


If you want to read about it in the article in which I saw this tidbit of injustice, go here:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24115111-23109,00.html

By the way I found that link here:
islam - the Religion of Peace (and a big stack of dead bodies)

As I read the short article about this killing, I noted one thing of importance was missing, and that has been nagging me. There is no explanation within the article of why this would be considered an honor killing. Sure it implied ebcause the brother suspected the woman had been dishonorable with a man, but that is not what I mean. What is the underlying cause of him thinking he should resort to an honor killing is more of what I mean. Was the reason that the brother sought vengeance on his sister to protect the family's honor a cultural thing, was it a national thing, was it a regional thing, was it just done in a rage, was he a psycho, or was it done because the brother was following the teachings of his so called religion? Yep, sure seems funny how the article does not mention such an important aspect regarding this killing - but then you suspect exactly why he did it - don't you? Have you arrived at the same conclusion as me? My conclusion is he probably did it because he practices the Religion of Peace. All I can say is I believe it to be one heck of a crock of shit contradiction of terms to call a religion that apparently allows and apparently even condones such killings - the religion of peace.

All the best,
Glenn B